The only man to face a court over the 11 September atrocities was jailed for life by judges in Germany today.

Moroccan Mounir el Motassadeq, known as "the book-keeper", was sentenced for his part in the murders of more than 3,000 people.

In a 14-week trial he was described as the accountant of the terror cell led by Mohammed Atta, the 33-year-old Egyptian believed to have been at the controls of one of the planes which smashed into the World Trade Center.

He handled the finances of the fanatical Muslim terrorists as they studied in Hamburg and then, later, when they travelled to America to learn to fly the jets which they were to hijack and turn into flying bombs. Motassadeq, 28, was charged with being an accessory to more than 3,000 murders - the victims of the Twin Towers attack in New York, the assault on the Pentagon and the flight which crashed in Pennsylvania as passengers fought hijackers en route to the White House.

He was also accused of being a member of al Qaeda and supporting the illegal terror cell. He received the maximum sentence possible in a German court of 15 years, which is the equivalent of a life sentence.

Motassadeq had painted himself as a man being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He admitted travelling to one of Osama bin Laden's terror academies in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and learning how to shoot a Kalashnikov rifle - but he said he had no part in the 11 September plot.

He admitted looking after some of the financial affairs of the group but said he did so merely as a friend, despite evidence which proved he had acted as their financial adviser, even receiving power of attorney over the bank account of suicide hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi.

Questioned by the senior judge, Albrecht Mentz, about Atta's intentions Motassadeq claimed: "Suicide attacks were never discussed. In my opinion, that is not a solution ... Suicide bombers are not martyrs. Even in war, there are rules."

He added: "Perhaps Atta was of a different opinion ... But Atta never spoke about any attacks."

The five judges acknowledged that the loose-knit nature of al Qaeda meant there was little more than circumstantial evidence to link him to the plot but emphasised this was enough for a guilty verdict.

According to some witnesses, Motassadeq was as radical as the rest of the group, often talking of jihad - holy war - and his hatred of Israel and the United States.

The most dramatic testimony came from FBI Special Agent Matthew Walsh, who brought to life the terror aboard American Flight 11, the first to strike the Twin Towers, with details of a call made by a flight attendant to airline authorities.

"The flight attendant stated that it was very hard to breathe so we assumed that some sort of mace or other gas was used," he said.

"She said 'the passenger in 10B has stabbed a passenger in the seat in front of him', and she thought the passenger was already dead."

Walsh's evidence formed a key part of the state's case by injecting gruesome terror into otherwise often dry proceedings which concentrated on documents such as Atta's gas bill and bank account.

Relatives of victims gave evidence including American Steven Push, whose wife Lisa died in the attacks.

He received the maximum sentence possible in a German court of 15 years, which is the equivalent of a life sentence.

Is there any more proof that terrorists need to be taken care of in the most severe way -- destroyed -- than this story? This is the sort of "International Justice" the peaceniks are fighting for -- 15 years in jail. Even if it's 15 years for each life taken -- in this case that would add up to 45,000 years -- the symbolism of getting less jail time for committing these acts of terrorism than bank robbers or "three strikes and you're out" convicts is deplorable.

I'd still like someone to explain to me how 15 years is the "equivalant" of a life sentence -- even in pacifist Germany.

I know this is gonna get me flamed but it needs to be said:
He's just an accountant. In America you can be an accountant for the bad guys and unless you're accounting practices are illegal you won't get any jail time. There's nothing illegal about paying the utility bills of a raving psychotic killer, immoral sure but not illegal.

Are you smoking crack? The guy will be out of prison when he is younger than President Bush is today. How you think 15-20 years -- the same amount of time that has elapsed since a young professional in his early 30s would have graduated from high school -- is "life-long" is beyond me.

And yes, I know that some dozens of Germans died. My point is that Germany is a soft country that doesn't take criminal justice seriously. And as others have pointed out on this thread, the Germans -- and Euros in general -- like to morally preen over the fact that America has a "barbarous" death penalty and they don't. Perhaps, but when one is a willing accomplice to the long-planned murder of more than 3,000 people, he should die. Period. And he certainly should not get out of prison just in time to qualify as a rookie on the Senior PGA Tour.

Life-long is because of a sentence of our highest court not life-long. BTW, the guy here must not get life-long, because he´s "just" guilty of aiding. That´s the maximum by law. Life-long ends after 15-20 years, because every human has the right to get free once! Our Court concluded that from our Art. 1 Constitution saying that the dignity of every human is untouchable.

In fact, our laws are the result of the genocide. We protect the individual against the state. The individual is higher than emotions or revenge. 15 years are enough for him, he hasn´t killed anyone. He aided the murderers, not more or less.

And as others have pointed out on this thread, the Germans -- and Euros in general -- like to morally preen over the fact that America has a "barbarous" death penalty and they don't

JMO, the leaders of the old Europe of france and germany don't preen but actually circle jerk over their self induced and delusional superiortiy over the "provincial and dumb bumpkin" Americans, who saved their collective asses from a fascist tyrant 62 years ago, and gave billions of dollars to help rebuild their economies.

Oh BTW Michael, I have visited modern day Germany(Bayern) twice(1985 when the german left was in full swing against Reagan and 1994 when it seemed the german population was enthralled by Bill Clinton).

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